MISS POLANDPaulina KrupinskaWinner, Ruth Ocumarez Award(For the benefit of the non-hardcore pageant fans, the Ruth Ocumarez Award is given to a heavy-favorite candidate but clapped hard during the finals. This was after Ruth Ocumarez of Dominican Republic started the trend in Miss Universe 2002.)

No one saw it coming. She had been on top not until the announcement of the top 16. She fell rock bottom. No one predicted that she couldn’t make the cut. And darn…she clapped really hard during the finals. Most pageant sites, including us, consistently had her in the prediction list, mainly because she dominated most of the sponsorial and other major special events. Not to mention her Godly beauty that swept us off our feet. She obviously outshone other candidates in nearly all of the activities. Many even thought she could get the crown. Now, what went wrong? We believed that she lost her chances because she didn’t meet the expectations on her during the preliminary competition. Her long gown was tacky, her styling was horrible, and she hobbled on stage. Another thing that hurt her chances was that she didn’t show a powerful personality and was rumored to have an attitude problem, and most of the MUO staff were disappointed of her. She even fought with some candidates backstage during the final competition, or to be exact, after she was not called in the top 16. She’s one of the wasted beauty for us because she really was strikingly a stunner in the competition. That’s why we’re giving her the Ruth Ocumarez Award. We wish Poland could send as pretty as Paulina next year, but of course, will not clap as hard as she.

Miss Universe France 2013 Hinarani de Longeaux in her evening gown during the preliminary competition. (Photo courtesy of Miss Universe)

MISS FRANCEHinarani de LongeauxWhat a wasted beauty! This Polynesian queen could have advanced further up top 10 if she made the first cut. We really love her exotic looks and her dominating features. But, just like Miss Poland, she did not shine. Months and weeks before the pageant commenced, she was one of those ladies foretold to come in first, but when she set foot in Russia and hobnobbed with the rest of the ladies, she started to lose her glimmer. She fluffed big time in her candid shots. She looked tremendously terrible. She looked sick. However, she managed to get her thrust back during the Tony Ward fashion show, but still it did not secure her placement. If she had a laudable performance during the preliminaries, we think she would have been in the Trump-16 train.

Miss Universe Panama 2013 Carolina Brid in her long gown during the preliminary competition. (Photo credit goes to Miss Universe)

MISS PANAMACarolina BridPerformer, catwalk diva, go-getter, trendy and chic—but what went wrong with Miss Panama?Honestly, she did creditable performance, but definitely not enough to clinch a spot. We don’t know if it’s only us, but her body looked awful, and her skin wasn’t as thriving as we expected. And to top it all, she didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor; not even an inch of significance. Her beauty was not relatable. She looked pretty, but when she’s with other candidates, she’s forgettable. That’s what she didn’t have. But she ranked second in our first prediction, and had her in our final one. We did that because what we liked with this queen was that she really did work hard all throughout the competition. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough in the eyes of the judges, the MUO, and the pageant spectators as well.

Miss Croatia Universe 2013 Melita Fabecic in her long gown during the preliminary competition. (Photo courtesy of Miss Universe.)

MISS CROATIAMelita FabecicThe femme fatale as everyone called her had a fatal fate in this year’s competition. She was ravishing, not until she arrived in Moscow. She was one of the biggest disappointments actually. She looked alluring in her professional photos, but she was far from being one in Moscow. We admit she has this unconventional look that is so irresistible, but it didn’t befit for the crown. We wish Elizabeta Burg’s vital force possessed her and sprinted all the way to top 16.

MISS BOLIVIAAlexia ViruezOh, we thought her long gown during the preliminaries would save her—God! She looked extremely beguiling in that one! But she indubitably came to nothing. Honestly, she looked like Miss Philippines (though it offended her) and we thought she could use it as an advantage because Ariella was a favorite. And just like the rest of the other failures, she missed the group of 16 lucky girls. She did not perform well—that’s what she missed. If only she stole scenes and made herself noticeable, she could have had the chance. She was lackluster; not visible in most activities, and kept herself busy slacking. She wasted everything that she had because she obviously has one of the prettiest faces in the competition, but she didn’t use it to her advantage.

Miss Universe Israel 2013 Titi Ayenew in her long gown during the preliminary competition. (Photo courtesy of Miss Universe)

MISS ISRAELTiti AyenewMentioning the US President (obviously not a friend of Mr. Trump and Russia as a whole) in her web interview was one of the reasons (as most thought) why she didn’t advance to the semifinals. Aside from that, “most” Russians are not into African beauty (not generalizing). We really didn’t want to get on to that, but most probably, her presence was not as overpowering as we thought it should be. When we saw her modeling shots, we were like, “Holy Smoke!”, but when she came in to Moscow, we sort of like “Oh why?”. She didn’t impress us that much. Her lacking of spark and special trademarks were just too hard to digest to have her deserve for a spot. But we couldn’t deny that she brought it all off in the preliminaries. It was not as good as the other frontrunners, though.

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